Espionage or Exploration? Arthur Wavell and the Blurred Lines of Imperial Intent in the Ottoman Frontier

Abstract

In October 1910, Arthur John Byng Wavell, a former British military-officer-turned-geographer, arrived in Hodeida to explore the Arabian Peninsula under the accreditation of the Royal Geographical Society of London. His presence exacerbated an ongoing Ottoman security crisis, which later escalated into a diplomatic setback between the British and Ottoman governments. While Wavell and British authorities claimed he was an explorer, Ottoman officials suspected him of espionage. This research situates Wavell's story within the larger context of British imperial expansion into Eastern Africa and the Arabian Peninsula, alongside intelligence operations targeting the Ottoman Empire at the turn of the century. By drawing on Wavell's memoirs and both British and Ottoman archival materials, it also examines Ottoman intelligence efforts and highlights how the 1908 Young Turk Revolution and the subsequent abolition of spying compromised security in the Empire's borderlands during the Committee of Union and Progress's governance.